Trip Down South

We traveled to Hatteras to stop in for Sarah's birthday week at the beach and had an absolutely lovely time! Their beach house was so cute, a little cottage on the sound, which was great because we went to both the beach (right next to the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse,so pretty) and dipped in the sound, via kayak and raft. Sunsets on the sound are as gorgeous as they come. The vacation met Maverick's appoval as well- he had a ball playing with girls and hanging out on the back porch.

After we left Hatteras, we rode the ferry over to Ocracoke Island and explored for the afternoon. It was just like the Keys- and we were so happy because it felt like one of our road trips from when Ben & I first met! We tooled around the little village, which is just darling, went to the beach, of course, and visited the Ocracoke Lighthouse. Ben saw some cool birds (a rare tropicbird, for all you birders out there, and some wimbrels) and we soaked up tons of rays. Little did we know that Tropical Storm Cristobal was on the way... the skys were gorgeous, bright blue with no clouds, and the surfing was great. Pretty lucky!

On our ride back we stopped and snapped a picture of this house that is featured in a new movie coming out: Nights in Rodanthe. Its a love story with Richard Gere and Diane Lane and comes out in theaters in late September. Can't wait to go see it (especially since the movie theater closes October thru April!)

Whale Tales

With a new job comes new tasks... what to do if a whale washes up... ALIVE! There have been two in the recent past, both very photogenic. The first was a 14' sperm whale baby who came ashore at the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, way south of Corolla,but still in the Outer Banks. It was likely fighting off an infection, due to its enlarged lymph nodes, and was to be euthanized, but before the euthanizer arrived on the scene, the whale died. Can you imagine the size hole needed to bury it? Luckily the county comes with a bulldozer to take care of business.

Just a short while later was another whale- this time a 10' short-finned pilot whale near Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge (again, pretty far south of Corolla). This young whale was euthanized due to muscle spasms. Fortunately this was a single stranding; apparently these whales are known to strand in great numbers. Just north of this area, in Nags Head, back in 2005, over 30 of them stranded all in one day. Check it out here in the Outer Banks Free Press article.

Although its definitely sad to have these creatures coming to shore to die, its an opportunity of a lifetime to get to see them at all! Neat stuff happening up our way :)

Ben's Birthday!

Ben's birthday was very eventful this year- the BIG 2-7! And his first time surfing, ever! His family came to visit for the whole week, even the pups! Maverick had such a good time with Grandmother and Pop, and Aunt Vanessa, and the furry family members: Falkor, Patch, and of course, Ellys... Mav actually paraded around like it was his birthday instead of Ben's!

Everyone enjoyed the pool and jacuzzi at the beachhouse, including my mom who is also visiting at the same time! Both of our families enjoyed some quality nature programming over the Center, with Ben and I on our corniest behavior like always. We all had a surprise picnic at the park for lunch and a fabulous seafood fest for dinner on Ben's special day.

Maverick Meets the Parents

Maverick and I enured the 11-hour ride to Pennsylvania- we traveled under the Chesapeake Bay in the Norfolk tunnel and through Allegheny Mountain in West Virginia. He had a lovely time taking care of "Gramma K" after her surgery. She was glad to have the furry friend to keep her company, too. Maverick loved to run free in the yard and woods, and he was on his best behavior for his grandparents. When he wasn't outside, he was looking outside, watching for anything and everything. He saw lots of cows and did lots of exploring in the woods. We were all sad to end the vacation but very happy to see Ben when we got back!

Sea Turtle Release

We took our first trip to the Southern Outer Banks! There was a sea turtle released in Hatteras that had been rehabilitated from a shark bite. She returned to the sea all fixed up and we had a fun time scoping out the area. The water is sooo much warmer there as the Gulf Stream meets the shore so it was like swimming in Naples! And of course, everyone knows the story of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse that had to be moved inland a number of years ago. We're looking forward to returning back to Hatteras in a few weeks to visit Sarah for her birthday, yay!

First Trip to 4x4 Beach

We live about 1 mile south of where the paved road ends and the beach-driving-only begins, but I have not been up in the 4x4 area yet... until yesterday! The first sea turtle nest in the area was discovered near the Virginia border so Ben & I went up to investigate. The 12-mile trip on the sand was pretty adventurous. Lots of deep ruts, soft sand, and WILD HORSES! There is actually a fence at the start of the beach road that ends at the VA-border (see second picture below), to keep the horses protected, so they just roam free on the beach. That was a real treat to see.

But the turtle nest was even more of a treat! First of all, the tracks from the sea were amazing- the nest was almost 60 feet from the water's edge, which would have been very difficult for the mama turtle to crawl through all of those tire tracks, it seems. We hope there are about 100 little loggerheads heading to see the sea in 80 days or so. We'll have to post a blog on our "nest sitting" in a few months to keep everyone up to date!

Needless to say, we're both enjoying work! We've done a ton of necropsies (or animal autopsies to determine cause of death) so its a nice break to evidence of a live, healthy turtle, rather than the dead ones that keep washing up. And they say that whales and seals sometimes come up on shore in the wintertime, oh my!

The Sarahs' Weekend

What a fun weekend! Sarah came to visit and we had a ball! Some time at the beach and touring around out little shopping center was good for us girls to catch up. Ben prepared a gourmet meal for us while we had cocktails and chatted away. We got a little silly trying on some wigs and beards for the In Search of Mermaids program that Ben and I put on at work (we have to dress up like Hercules and an old sea-captain and act on stage- its rediculous) but Sarah did enjoy seeing some of our fine-skills during another of our famous duets: the Sea Squirt Sing-Along! Every Sunday, we put on a dog-and-pony show for the kids and parents and sing "splish splash I was picking up trash" and "don't worry, be hoppy" with lots of dancing included, free of charge, haha. Check out Ben playing the kazoo!

We also had a Beach Exploration class this morning, which was a nice way to spend the early hours. Picking up shells with families on vacation reminds me of my days of Sandlapper Tours in Charleston. But... we can walk to this beach from house which is much more fun! Thanks Sarah for taking so many pictures!

Sarah brought her kayak and we paddled into the sunset on Currituck Sound last night... then came home and had a big dessert while being fascinated by the National Geographic Channel. Its so fun to have a friend who not only appreciates our dorkiness, but loves to do the same things, too :)